£3.8m impact for Stoney says report

A report into the benefits of the Queen Elizabeth Caravan Club in Stonehaven has revealed the site has brought in £3.8million to the town.

The Economic Impact Assessment report carried out by MKA economics said that the added benefit to to Stonehaven’s businesses amounts to well over £1.2million per year.

The park that sits on Stonehaven’s iconic beach front was reopened in June 2013 by Stonehaven Town Partnership who lease it out to the Caravan Club of Great Britain. The site has attracted tens of thousands of caravanners, 70% of whom are from outside Scotland.

Commenting on the report, STP’s acting chairman David Fleming said: “It makes all the hard work of both STP’s volunteers and the many Caravan Club staff worthwhile to know that the town is much stronger as a result of this development”.

Frank Budd, chairman of the Stonehaven Tourism Group stated that: “The park has done remarkable things for Stonehaven tourism trade, more than expected, and is widely acknowledged as a wonderful success”.

The report states: “In total, between June 2013 and January 2016 the Queen Elizabeth II Caravan Park was open for 779 nights, which across the 80 available pitches equates to a maximum possible 62,320 pitch nights.

“The average occupancy achieved over this period was 87% which equates to 54,218 pitch nights and assuming the average offsite spend per pitch per night of £48.53 this results in a total offsite expenditure of £2.6 million.

“When accounting for multiplier effects (1.43 as recorded in the Scottish Camping and Caravanning Forum Study) this equates to a net economic impact of £3.8 million.”